GlockLT4

Well, I was determined to get some work done tonight, so I got the water pump off. Tomorrow I will pick up a new one. The optispark is very visable now.

I have talked with a few people and gotten a couple different theories. First off, I have had someone come over and verify that the waterpump was leaking (smell of antifreez and look of moister under water pump AND the dead give away of splash marks on the hood from the water getting slung around on the serp. belt everywhere). The underside of the waterpump was moist and dirty, as were the plugs going into the opticrap.

I have been told that the waterpump could be the only problem, and that the little bit of water that is getting in there is causing it to miss at the high temps because the pressure of the coolant system is high and leaking. I've also been told that the opti should dry out and continue to work (yes, i know what lots of people think). But, he said that if the opticrap was really dead, it wouldn't miss only when hot and at high rpm's and the engine wouldn't run perfectly fine when revving in park... it would have problems all the time.

What do you guys think? Do I replace the optispark and waterpump, or just the waterpump? I am going to replace my wires while i'm in there right now too.. it's very easy to do with the water pump out.

If I have to do the optispark, and someone (hopefully who has done an opti) around Plano wants to come over and give a few pointers... :cheers: :cheers: beer is on me :D.


[Modified by Glock'94, 3:43 AM 8/3/2001]

wilb3

Let me understand....are you trying to decide wether or not to replace your optispark?

GlockLT4

:D.. yes... sorry. i guess I wasn't really clear on that. The current one is only about 15k miles old :(. I would hope it would last longer than that even if I drenched it in water.

AquaMetallic94LT1

You can try to keep the opti spark. I recommend that you take it off and make sure the antifreeze has not ruined the bearing in it. If the bearing is okay, you might want to remove the cap and clean the rotor, cap, and optical parts where the trigger wheel goes through. You'll have to use contact cleaner on the optical electronics. The distributor has 8 pt fasteners holding the cap on and T-9 :( torx fasteners. The 8 pt sockets are available at Autozone. They may have the T-9 also. Reseal the cap etc using RTV silicon and seal the back side of the unit to the timing cover with RTV.

On the other hand, since it takes 2-4 hours to replace the opti, you might want to replace it. Don't bother looking for a new cap and rotor. The cap and rotor are 185 bucks and I think you can only get the cap for the vented opti. A rebuilt dist housing base is 110 bucks.

GlockLT4

Cap and rotor?? I thought the three hundred something bucks included everything?? :confused: Great.. MORE money to spend..... :(

wilb3

My $.02, sounds like your leak was minor. I replaced the pump on my '95 earlier this year w/o doing the Opti- I honestly forgot about it, but came out good- no problems! With only 15K on the Opti you shouldn't have serious problems if there was only minor leaking. But if you've got the extra dough, I'd replace it so you can get atleast another 50K miles from both the pump/opti. Be sure to replace your thermostat in the pump too.

AquaMetallic94LT1

No, your right, the whole distributor is 300 and the way to go.

RichS

I'd Pull it off and take it apart to inspect it and clean the insides.

GlockLT4

So did your optispark start to give out with yor minor leak?

BrianCunningham

Check you wires. The opti may be fine, but the wires might have been getting soaked. I got the infamous light show.
Pull them off the opti, see if the ends are cooroded.
Now is a good time to replace the wires.